26 Weeks

How far along: 26 weeks

Maternity clothes: Yep. Mostly. 

Sleep: Eh, it's okay. 

Best moment of this week: We went on a date to Lake Fayetteville yesterday. That was fun. (picture below) Justin even made a list of everything we were doing on the date, so I could cross things off. 

Miss anything: Being able to breathe! This baby is pushing on my diaphragm. 

Movement: A ton. She's a busy girl. 

Gender: Still a girl.  

Labor signs: No 

Belly button in or out: In. 

Wedding ring on or off: On. 

Happy or moody most of the time: Happy, I hope. 

Looking forward to: Seeing the little person who's moving in my stomach. It's weird to not know what she looks like. 

Baby is the size of a: I don't know, a heavy baguette?...weighs between 1.5 and 2 pounds. Around 14 inches long. 

24 Weeks

How far along: 24 weeks

Maternity clothes: Yes. I only have one pair of shorts that fit now. Bummer. 

Sleep: Still wake up to pee a lot, but it's fun to wake up and feel her move in the middle of the night. I'm tired. A. lot. 

Best moment of this week: Well, we were on vacation this week, so there were a lot of great moments. In regards to Ev, we registered at Target yesterday. Yay! Also, for the first time someone I didn't know told me congratulations, so I'm hopefully getting out of the 'maybe she is pregnant or maybe she ate too many donuts' phase. 

Miss anything: Not monitoring my caffeine intake. 

Movement: Yes. A lot. Justin's felt her move several times, and I can see my stomach move when she does. 

Gender: Still a girl.  

Labor signs: No 

Belly button in or out: In!

Wedding ring on or off: On. 

Happy or moody most of the time: Happy, I hope. 

Looking forward to: Being able to comfortably lay on my stomach and back again. 

Baby is the size of a: Ear of corn? About a pound and a half, apparently and around a foot long. So, really we should just call her a Subway footlong.  

Here she is in Charleston during our vacation. 

Here's Justin's food baby. 

So, we're having a baby.

And, I've been (not-so-subtly) reminded by my dear, dear friends that I never update my blog, and now I have to. Well guys (girls), I haven't had anything to say. Now I do. Plus, my core 4 girls are ALL moving away within, like, 3 weeks of each other, so I have to keep them updated. While the likelihood of me doing this every week is slim, I'll try my best. I would love to read stuff like this from when my mom was pregnant with me or my bro. 

(And thanks, Jen, for making my life easy. I stole your questions.) 

How far along: 21 weeks

Maternity clothes: Some. A lot of dresses. My pants fit with the stretchy band thing, but dresses are more comfy. 

Sleep: I get up to pee 2-3 times per night, so that's exciting. I'm way better at sleeping right before my alarm goes off and during the day than I am at night. 

Best moment of this week: Buying a glider rocker for baby's room with my mom. I love starting her nursery stuff!

Miss anything: Not having to pay attention to my caffeine intake. 

Movement: Yes! I feel her for a little bit every day. Justin even got to feel her, which weren't expecting at all this early! He kept gasping every time she moved. It was presh. He then got his stethoscope out to try and hear her heartbeat. #mursehusband

Gender: She's a she! Evelyn Louise Morgan. Evelyn, because we like it. Louise, because it was my grandma's name. More on her later. 

Labor signs: Um, no. PTL. 

Belly button in or out: In. Also, PTL. 

Wedding rings on or off: On. 

Happy or moody most of the time: Happy, I think. Maybe ask Justin.

Looking forward to: Working on her nursery!

Baby is the size of a: Carrot. Length, I think. However, Chelsea likes to relate her to processed food, so maybe a Twizzler? I don't know how long those are. She weighed 12oz at our appointment last week. How do they even know that?

Things I've asked other moms (including mine) recently: 

How(ish) old is a 35 pound child?

Is a nursing bustier for real?

Can I eat deli meat?

Can I eat canned tuna?

How much espresso is in that?

Can I get a massage?

Can I take a bath? (because you're not supposed to be in hot tubs, apparently.)

 

Mid June, texted to Sarah in Ethiopia 

 

 

A couple weeks ago.

 

Just a few days ago! 

Spring Breaks - Part 2

If you're wondering why I'm telling you about Spring Breaks from college, read below. If you wanna read about the first one, click here.

-----
So, I got to thinking. I have a lot of stories that I don't want to forget. Not like, ultra cool, life-altering stories, but they are stories and they are mine. Some are funny. Some are sad. Some taught me something. Some are lovey. Since I don't want to forget my stories, I have decided to compile them here. Maybe it will be like a 50 First Dates kind of thing and someone will read them if they get amnesia or dementia or something. I don't want that to happen, but it's plausible, I guess. Also, maybe my babies or babies' babies will read them. I would l-o-v-e love to read stories from grandmas or mom when they were in their 20s. (If you don't know me, folks, it seems that I have to have a reason to do something. Not just a 'Hey this seems like fun. I'll do it.' reason. Weird. I think I just learned that about myself.) Anyways, #storykeeper, y'all.
-----

Sophomore Year:
I can say pretty confidently that this was my favorite trip ever. 6 of us and a paper cut out of our friend Sarah drove a total of 61hrs round trip to Boston and back in my parents' car with our luggage strapped to the back.

Along the way we stopped outside of Nashville at Julie's uncle's house, New York, Philly, Boston and Annapolis, Maryland. Having 6 people in one car for that long had its moments for sure, but we had a shout cup that we made strongly suggested everyone put something in every now and then to say anything they wanted without getting hated on. I still have the papers somewhere, I think, but they ranged from serious, whiney things like, "Please no more country!" and "I hate Firehouse" to "Sarah (paper cut out) and Jason should date." They're hilarious.

A few happenings on the trip:

• Along the way, somewhere in Tennessee I believe, we were looking for food and the GPS said "Beach Creek Deli". It sounded pleasant, but it seemed a ways off the highway we were on. So, we went, obviously. After driving down back, windy roads and a few of us almost vomming we passed a closed down, ghetto gas station called "BeechCreek Deli". Yea. We didn't stop. Here she is:

• Annapolis. Probably doesn't mean a lot to a lot of you, but it was actually my and Chelsea's second time there. There's a Naval Academy there, and it's just a stinkin' cute town, y'all! Chels and I made up a story about being interviewed for a documentary and using British accents. I think everyone believed us for a while, but we told them we were kidding later. We also stood outside and danced to Diva by Beyonce somewhere in Annapolis. 

• Boston. I want to go back here. So. Bad. We didn't get to spend as much time here as we'd like, but it was still so great. We ate dinner with our (now) friends John and Heather. They were locals at the time, so they showed us around a bit, and we got to go to the John Hancock building where Heather worked. Turns out we were in Boston on St. Patrick's day and it was CRAZY. We heard tons of f-bombs on the subway, and the subway STOPPED WORKING while we were on it. No one did anything except the guys we were with. Ha! We went to a restaurant, The Barking Crab, which came highly recommended by a cursing, tour guide man. He said he used to be a chef. Who knows. We also went to Harvard (!), and it was beautiful, but people blew whistles if you got on the grass. I think they had orange vests on, too. When we we there we met a freshman girl whose major was Neurobiology or something. Seriously. We didn't belong, but it was SO pretty. 

• Philadelphia. I had the first and only Philly Cheese Steak I've ever really enjoyed here at Pat's. It's famous, apparently. We were only here for maybe an hour, so we didn't do much more than eat. We did run up the Rocky steps. I've never seen Rocky, so I don't know what that means, and I didn't run them; I video-taped other people running up them. :)

• New York. We did so much here and were so exhausted, and it was so worth it. We saw Wall Street, went to a Charity:Water exhibit, went to Central Park, Times Square (where we saw a car wreck) and the Seinfeld Restaurant. We maneuvered the subways, didn't get mugged, saw the WTC memorial, went to Chelsea Market, Canal Street, rode a ferry to see the Statue of Liberty and watched the boys gooze on 2 German girls. 

May have been photobombing....

Other things not to be forgotten:

• Someone may or may not have said they would hide under someone's bed during their honeymoon. Yep.

Spring Breaks - Part 1

In case you missed my Story Keeper rant, here's why I'm telling you about Spring Break from my freshman year of college:

-----
So, I got to thinking. I have a lot of stories that I don't want to forget. Not like, ultra cool, life-altering stories, but they are stories and they are mine. Some are funny. Some are sad. Some taught me something. Some are lovey. Since I don't want to forget my stories, I have decided to compile them here. Maybe it will be like a 50 First Dates kind of thing and someone will read them if they get amnesia or dementia or something. I don't want that to happen, but it's plausible, I guess. Also, maybe my babies or babies' babies will read them. I would l-o-v-e love to read stories from grandmas or mom when they were in their 20s. (If you don't know me, folks, it seems that I have to have a reason to do something. Not just a 'Hey this seems like fun. I'll do it.' reason. Weird. I think I just learned that about myself.) Anyways, #storykeeper, y'all.
-----

Y'all. When I was in college I had Spring. Breaks. Like, good unforgettable random spring breaks. I don't ever want to forget them for a lot of reasons, but one of them being that we did kind of silly, spontaneous things, and they are absolutely some of my favorite times. Here's the first. I'll split 'em up though, because some will be longer.

Freshman Year:
My bestie from high school, Shannon, was engaged (maybe just dating at the time, but I think engaged) to this guy (not 'a' guy, rather her now husband) whose family lived in Tampa, FL. We drove there and stayed with his family for the week. We went to the beach a lot and shopped and I ate a Cuban (sandwich) for the first time. It was great. I don't remember too much else, other than someone thought we were in Jr. High when we were at one of Andrew's cousin's basketball games or something. Cool. A couple pics: (I can't find any more. Hmm.)

Story Keeper

So, I got to thinking. I have a lot of stories that I don't want to forget. Not like, ultra cool, life-altering stories, but they are stories and they are mine. Some are funny. Some are sad. Some taught me something. Some are lovey. Since I don't want to forget my stories, I have decided to compile them here. Maybe it will be like a 50 First Dates kind of thing and someone will read them if they get amnesia or dementia or something. I don't want that to happen, but it's plausible, I guess. Also, maybe my babies or babies' babies will read them. I would l-o-v-e love to read stories from grandmas or mom when they were in their 20s. (If you don't know me, folks, it seems that I have to have a reason to do something. Not just a 'Hey this seems like fun. I'll do it.' reason. Weird. I think I just learned that about myself.) Anyways, #storykeeper, y'all.

-----

One time, I was babysitting. I was babysitting a fam of 4. Their dad had dropped them off, and we were getting ready for bed. Once everyone was in bed the eldest told me his stomach hurt. I asked him what he ate for dinner, and he told me Chinese food and pizza. Oh no. That can't be a good combo. I told him to lay on the couch and that I would rub his back. He told me his mom usually got a trash can when his stomach hurt like this. Oh, good. So, I got a trash can. I started rubbing his back, and about 30 seconds later he was vomming his face off and crying. I was so sad for him, and so gag-gy. I called his mom. No answer. Turns out I had 2 numbers for her in my phone and one was wrong. I found the right one and she still didn't answer. Luckily, she called back within about 5 minutes saying she was on her way home. (I left a voicemail saying, 'Um, hi. It's Celeste. Xyz is sick and throwing up. Uh...yea. Bye.'

When she called back she asked to talk to her babe, so I gave him the phone even though he was still a little preoccupied crying and dry-heaving and such. He was holding the phone. He leaned over to spit. He dropped said phone into the bag-o-chunder and looked at me all wide-eyed and nervous. Sick. 'It's okay.' I said quietly, as I pulled said phone out of barf-can. I put it on speaker phone. She kept praying. I tried not to gag.

Eventually he quit throwing up, mom came home and I cleaned my phone off. And I used that phone until the day my contract expired. Still works today (over a year since I've gotten a new one, y'all.) Ironically though, I did get very sick the next week. So did my bestie though, and I hadn't seen her since the incident, so I don't really think the 2 were related.

Are we God-honoring?

*First off, I'm rarely this think-y on my blog. This has just been on my mind a lot lately.

For the second time in our marriage (both out of town, actually), Justin and I were walking down a street and asked by 2 men if we supported gay rights. The first time, we were in Denver on our honeymoon and Justin just said, "Uhh.." as we were walking. We were walking by. The timing was poor. The second time was very similar, except Justin said, "No, thanks."

As we were walking away I asked him if he thought our responses to those 2 situations were honoring to the Lord. Not that I was anti-what he said. I wasn't/am not. I just don't know the answer to that question. First off, that's a reallllyyyyy loaded question. With everything going on lately, my guess is that they mean in regards to marriage, but 'rights' makes me think of the right to vote, shop, drive, get a job, etc. I'm pretty sure that's not what they meant.

Anyways, if I agree with what the Bible calls marriage, but I'm supposed to love everyone - all my neighbors, straight, gay, purple, liberal, conservative, northern, rude, etc., then is saying "No, thanks" a loving response? Telling them why they're wrong and making them think I'm judging them certainly doesn't seem appropriate either. A sin is a sin is a sin, and a believer would not respond well to me being jerk to them and telling them how wrong they are, so why would a non-believer respond well. If I told them in love (whatever that looks like to a stranger on the street), I cannot expect a (potentially) non-believer to respond as a believer would if I approached them in love anyways.

I don't know the answer. I'm just thinking on it. I'd love anyone else's thoughts, but I would not love to argue with anyone about this. I will not talk to you if you try to argue with me.

Kansas City

Well, I received a text from my friend Chelsea saying, "Write a blog. What are you doing with your life?"

Ha. So, here I am. Writing a blog. Telling all 26 of you what I'm doing with my life. :) I might even cue a few up, so I don't drop off the face of the earth again.

We just got back from Kansas City yesterday, after spending a few days there with only each other. We love hosting people and having friends over and people staying with us, so we do. A lot. Because of that, we have to be very intentional about finding time for us. We obviously need time where we can't be reached or talked into doing something. :) So, we peaced out! And it. was. awesome. We loooovvvveeeee just being with each other despite the amount of time we spend with other people. Granted, I could do nothing and just chill while Justin likes to plan something for every single minute. We find a happy medium.

I think the only pictures we took were at the zoo, but here are some highlights/what we did.

• Shopped at the Plaza. H&M, y'all. Love it. Of course, we went to Anthro and Urban Outfitters too, but I'm too cheap for those stores. 
• The Zoo!

 Otter. For Rachel.

 "Take a picture of me. I'm dying." 

 Only picture of us together from the trip. 

 Making the same face as the camel.

 We rode the ski left that went over the zoo. Yes, that's a thing. And yes, it's awesome. 

I. Love. Polar bears. 

• Ate BBQ (Gate's, which I was then told by my local friend, Erin, that Gate's is not the best compared to others. Bummer. Just another reason to go back!)
• Ate California Pizza Kitchen - where our waiter, Alan, told Justin they had sugar you could add to tea to make it sweet. He also got sassy and even pointed out that it's the same sugar in sweet tea.
  Excuse me, Alan, have you ever tried to mix a million sugar packets into cold tea? It doesn't dissolve. He was obviously not southern. We tried to be gracious. 
• Ate at Grinder's, which came highly recommended from the guy we stayed with. It was alright. We obviously love to eat. 
• We rented an apartment to stay in from a website called airbnb.com, and it was super. This freaks some people out. This is the 3rd place to stay I've found on a sight like this, and so far it's always worked out great. Maybe I'll blog about that later....Anyways, he loved Asian art, but had awesome brick walls and high, open wooden ceilings. Also, concrete floors. Not my fave (they were in the bedroom too, since it was a loft), but fine. 

• I got to see my friend, Erin, like I said earlier. I was giddy. She moved from Fayetteville to KC area with her fam a few months ago. I was thrilled to be in my Wed. morning scripture memory group with her for a time. And thrilled to babysit her sweet boys a few times. And, much sadder than I anticipated when she moved. Seeing her was so. wonderful. She's so wise. 

We're back now, and I go back to work tomorrow. Booooo. Not really, but I am way thankful for time off. Also, I cannot stop thinking about how incredible this video is. Grab a kleenex and watch it. 

Today I

Woke up around 9. I love not having to get up at a certain time. I then said a quick "Thank you Jesus" that we don't have kids yet, and I can sleep in. (Not that I don't want kids, I'm just thankful we don't have them now.)

Ate a cannoli for breakfast. Because I'm healthy and they're delicious. Here's the recipe.

Made a grocery list and planned our meals for the week. Because I LOVE to plan and make lists and to cook.

Didn't wear makeup or work clothes, thank the good Lord. I love to dress up y'all, but I didn't wear makeup in college at least 2 times a week. Now I wear it at least 6 days a week. I like to consider my lack of excitement to do that every. single. day. a blessing that my parents bestowed on me by always telling me I was beautiful and telling me that I didn't have to wear makeup to be beautiful. Seriously, what a blessing they are. Parents (I'm not sure there are parents reading this, but just in case) tell your daughters they don't need makeup to be pretty (or clothes, or boys, or whatever). I feel like my mom told me that all. the. time., and honestly (as she will tell you) I said "I know, mom." and got annoyed. It was/is so good for me though (hello, Peter). Also, my mom didn't always do that (be constantly 'put together'), so practice what you preach. It will rub off. (end my soap box tangent)

Got myself to the Farm to pick up our vegetables for the week. (We have a Harvest Share for the season.) I've legitimately never been more excited for vegetables in my life. It's a like fun surprise every time (except not really because we get an email in advance telling us what we're getting. It still feels like a surprise though.)

We're supposed to pick up between 9-12 on Saturdays, so I rolled in at about 11:30 (still on time) and got some extra herbs because I was one of the last to pick up (shocking, I know. Not.). Woo hoo for extra herbs! I got some I've never even used! (Lemon balm and lemon oregano) I'm excited for those.

Went grocery shopping (which I also kind of love minus the spending money part.) And bonus, I got to see 3 of my favorite boys in the whole world at the store. You're probably not supposed have favorites when you babysit, but I do, and it's them. I mean, I babysit them like 10 times more than anyone else anyways, so that makes sense, right? Hope this isn't offensive to any other families....

Came home and cleaned and did laundry. Y'all cleaning is so productive. Once I start, I usually enjoy it. I'm terrible at starting though. Also, I'm not a great cleaner, but it's so fulfilling and a great time to think....and to dance, which leads to the next thing I did...

Forgot to turn on the dryer, so the clothes just sat in there the entire time the washing machine was going with another load. The reason I initially waited to turn on the dryer was so I could finish dancing to my Hall and Oates song playing and still be able to hear it. Then I forgot all together. For your viewing pleasure:

Freaked out a little because I graduated a year ago. That is nutso. 

2 of my precious precious girls are graduating today, and it just blows my mind. I remember when we were at Kaleo falling hard and fast into sister-friend love. Sweet Natalie and Rachel, I love you to the moon and back.

Powdered Donuts

Justin and I, we fight. We are married, so of course we do, but we fight about dumb stuff and real stuff. One of our more ridiculous fights happened last week. (One week before we are supposed to be on a panel of married people for engaged couples. #humbling) It is funny, and I don't wanna forget it, if for nothing else than a good story. Here's how it went:

My mom gave us Easter baskets for Easter. In these baskets were those little 6 packs of powdered donuts. I ate 3 for breakfast one morning (because I prefer the chocolate ones to the white ones, not because I think 3 teeny, calorie-filled donuts are a good breakfast) and put the others in a Ziploc bag. Justin ate the other 3 at some point. No big. A few nights later I was cooking dinner, and Justin was apparently starving. He ate 3 of the donuts from the other pack. He asked me what he should do with the rest. I said, "Put them in a Ziploc or something. I'll eat them eventually." He said, no, they are bad for us. I shall throw them away. (He didn't say shall, probably).

Me: "That is wasteful. No. Don't throw them away. Just keep them, and I'll eat them. I don't care."

Him: "But they are bad for us. Neither of us should eat them."

Me: (frustratedly and loudly) "Don't throw them away. Why are you being ridiculous?"

Then, he looked at me, and said "They're bad for us." And threw. them. away. 

Me: "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" 

Him: "I, uh, shouldn't have done that, but I -"

Me: "I DON'T WANNA TALK ABOUT IT."

I continued to cook. Angrily. He did something on the couch. I don't know what because I was trying not cry (because I cry when I am mad.) I didn't cry, I just yelled in my head. Once I calmed down (some), I told him that I did not want to fight about donuts. I don't care about donuts. He hurt my feelings and was disrespectful and ignored what I said. He, immediately y'all, stood up, hugged me, and apologized. He said he handled the situation very poorly. He is humble. Hopefully, I will learn that from him. I am not anywhere near as quick to apologize to him like he does to me. 

Thanks for being patient with me, lobe. 

Pinterest Obession

Y'all. I lovey love to bake/cook a lot. Pinterest has fueled pretty much everything we eat/make in the Morgan house. (With a few staples I learned from my mom of course.) It's been mostly just recipes, but here are a few things I've tried. Some I've l-o-v-e-d. Some have been super fails. Seriously, is there someone out there trying to trick people on Pinterest? The glowy Mountain Dew bottle thing doesn't work btw. I didn't try, but Sarah did...I'm pretty sure she's the one who told me at least.

Loves:
White Chicken Chili - I'm making this for community group tonight, actually.
White Silk Purse Laundry Detergent -  I made a different recipe a while back, but I like this one better. It's more concentrated and smells better. Mine didn't turn out quite like hers. I don't think I used enough water, but it still works!

Pioneer Woman Taco Pizza - Yum. Loved this

Holiday Monogram - //pinterest.com/pin/227361481157550879/ - There's a pic of it here from our old apartment. I made mine of out a cereal box though. #frugalfreddy

Peanut Butter - There are multiple recipes on Pinterest, so I didn't really follow just one. I just followed my heart, and it was delicious. 

Fails:

Asparagus and Goat Cheese Pasta - I might've just learned I don't like goat cheese from this, not necessarily the recipe. It tasted like a goat smells. 

Braid your hair and flat iron it for perfect waves - Wrong. Braid your hair and flat iron it for a crimpy 80s look. Tried this before work one morning. Yea, thanks a lot liar-pinterester. 

you're welcome that you get to see that.

Kale Chips - Maybe I made them wrong, but y'all, we didn't like these. Like, at all. Maybe I learned I don't like kale? Seriously though, it's like any other leafy green, so why wouldn't I? 

Sock bun curls - I didn't try these, but saw at least 3 tweets that they didn't work, so I opted out. 

Any fails or successes I should know about? No one likes wasting their time :)

Bosses

Y'all. I have had some great bosses in my day. Seriously. First off, I know, I'm only 23. I haven't worked a ton, but I've had a few jobs and even more bosses. Specifically, about 7 jobs (9 if you count that I worked at 3 different Office Depots) and about 11 bosses. That's not even counting assistant managers/bosses. I really really enjoyed most of them. Most. :) Currently, I thoroughly enjoy both my work environment and my bosses. Isn't that neat? That's such a blessing. I don't want anyone who hates their job to think I'm rubbing in this, I just realize that it truly is a blessing. I mean, I spend sooo much time at work.

A lot of people ask me what I do/what my typical day looks like. Well, both of those are weird answers and sort of make my job seem shady. I'll do my best to fill you in. The random-ness is one of the things I cherish about this job because doing the same thing every day is bo-ring.

Over the last few weeks I have:

• Sat in meetings and took notes. 
• Scheduled things. 
• Learned...well am learning, how to self publish a book and an e-book.
• Ordered books. 
• Gone to the news to help with client interviews. See one here if you're that interested. 
• Gone to a chapel event at a medical facility....also, I got blessed an anointed with oil at one of these when I first started. Not kidding. I've been to a lot of churches and that hasn't happened to me before. Check that off my list.
• Delivered pies to local medical facilities between here and Bentonville.
• Written Christmas/Holiday cards. 
• Learned about how/what companies make Deal Piggy and stuff work on the back end
• Blog/facebook for a few clients...I get to start Pinterest-ing soon I hope! 
• Written legal docs to start up an LLC. Yes, written.
• and more. :)

Guess what I'm doing tonight? Making more laundry detergent but with a new recipe! So excited! Seriously. I'll keep you posted.

Lovey love.

Today

Today, y'all, I miss India. A lot. I miss the children (who are nearly 2 years older now! That means that this brand spankin' new baby  is probably walking now!) and the women and even the chaos a teency bit. I miss how dependent I was on the Lord during that summer. I dearly miss my Chelsea and Priyanka. Please note, it is not easy to live there, especially when you're from America. So, I'm certain I'm remembering the best only, and not the frustration, and not the missing Justin and my family, and not the inconvenience of every single thing in that country, but still I miss it.

Today though, I am also very thankful for my job. I am so blessed to have a job that I love, y'all. It changes a lot, and I. Love. Change.

Today I am sore because I went rock climbing for the first time ever. Y'all, it was fun, but it was hard. You have to be so strong to do it! Katie, my friend that was showing some us the ropes, could gracefully swoop across the wall as if it were no big thing. So impressive. I am very aware today of how un-strong I am.

Today, in like 5 minutes, I get to babysit some of my faves. Y'all, who knew you'd miss kids you babysit when you don't see them in a while? Well, ya do...or I do at least. #giddy

Also, for your entertainment:

Lovey love. Happy weekend.

The last year of Ever

Welp, rumor has it that this is the last year ever. Sorry 'bout ya, Mayans, but my guess is that you are mistaken. I mean, I could be wrong...but I also couldn't. What if it was the last year of Ever though, y'all. It could be scary to do that, but also really stinkin awesome. You could justify quitting your job, doing whatever the heck you want, spending however much you want, going wherever you want, wowie. Here's what I'd do:

1. See. My. Chelsea. Lordy, I miss that girl.
2. Travel my face off. All the continents y'all. (Although I hate cold, I'd go to Antarctica for the Polar Bears). Also, if you're a realist like me, this would be paid for by the mondo loan I'd take out since I wouldn't have to pay it back.
3. I think I'd shave my head. Maybe not. Idk.
4. On the polar bear note, I would have to snuggle one. I'd just have to.
5. Then again, the world would probably just go crazy before then and everyone else would hoard up all the funds...so I'll stop my silly list now.

We're officially moved into our new apartment. It's starting to feel like home to me. The first night we were here watching a movie it felt like we were house sitting or something. I'll show you some pictures soon. My sweet Justin hung up a ton of stuff for me, but there are still a few things we need to do. Currently, I'm deciding where to place the bassinet. The one we bought for the wedding to be a drink cooler, which then became a blanket holder in our home, and now won't fit in the living room. Justin says we should save it for a baby (y'all it is weird to think there may be a baby in my belly or our house one day that we are responsible for. Yikes.) It's cute and neat because it was at our wedding, but it's also only gonna used for a short period of time and who knows if we'll even be here then. You know I'm not taking that thing out of the country.

Tonight is cheese party and the Cotton Bowl, but I must admit, I am WAY more excited about cheese party. It's exactly what it sounds like, a party where we eat cheese.

Go Hogs. Woo Pig. 

Echinoderms, hot cocoa, and dental implants.

All 3 of those things are very random, but what I'm currently thinking about. Here's why:

Echinoderms: I thought both hippos and rhinos were those. I was wrong. I thought of it because my twitter background is cutie hippos and my brother's is rhinos. We love big animals apparently. Also, I love polar bears, but yes, I know they'll rip my face off. Thanks for shooting my dreams down to hug one.

Tell me that's not cute. You can't. 

Hot cocoa: I don't really like hot cocoa mix unless it's in milk. Also, I don't really use hot chocolate mix. I use sugar, cocoa, vanilla, salt, and, duh, milk. 

Dental implants: I've been researching them a lot for work. Random, but true. I lovey love my job, y'all. It's random, but so great. I'm so thankful. It's so neat how God provides. 

Family Christmas this weekend, Justin's birthday on Monday, and our work Christmas party on Monday! Woo! Speaking of work Christmas, here's something I do at work: http://www.nwahealthandwellness.com/office-parties-101 Random. 

Lovey love. 

Thoughtlessness, moving, and a Christmas party

Y'all, let me preface this with I'm not fishing for compliments with what I'm about to say. Please don't think I am.

Anyways....One thing I've had to come to terms with about myself is that I don't have the gift of thoughtfulness. I wish I did, y'all. I think I always thought I had it, but I'm not so sure. I'm actually pretty sure I don't. I'm also kind of ok with it. While it's a bummer, I'm glad I at least know, so I can work on it. Don't know what I mean? Here are some examples:
My friends/fam/husband are so good at birthdays and gifts. Justin swears he got me the best Christmas presents ever this year. (I don't have his or anyone else's gift and won't for a couple weeks). Chelsea is so great writing me letters, and she's the one in India. My sweet girlies always get me something I love or have mentioned for my bday and for everyone elses, and I'm lucky if I remember the day of much less the week of their birthdays. It's not like I think of stuff and don't do it, I simply don't just think it. I have to put a LOT of thought into stuff like that. Gift giving - also not my strong suit. That's it. Just a revelation I thought I'd let y'all know.

In other news, we're moving in 20 days! Just down the road...literally about 200 yards. Our current apartment has other creatures living in it, and I just can't deal with it. We're breaking our lease and moving on. (Thank you Jesus that we found a place that would give us the first month free). That makes me think that I've never shown pictures of our first home on here. Here are a festive few.

Sorry I didn't clean off the table from the party...

 Our tiny, but useful kitchen. Not much to see other than the pot rack. 

Our tiny but useful bathroom. 

I love our shower curtain, and it's called Jaipur. Bonus. 

This is us with John, Justin's bestie and our current roommate. He's on furlough from India and is staying with us while he's in Fayetteville. (Yep, we both have besties in India). 

On another Christmasy note, we had a Christmas party here last night! We went to the Square (which was lovely) and took pictures then came here and ate, hung out, and played games. Y'all there was at least 46 people in our apartment at one time. Yea. Wow. Didn't know that was possible. It was great though! People made and brought delicious snacks and dressed festively. It was so great. Here are a few photos from that. 

With sweet, Sarah. Love love love her. 

It was our (Rachel left - Natalie right) 3 year friendiversary! 3 years ago when these girls were wee little freshmen (they're seniors now!) they came over to my apartment and we went to the square to take pictures. (Nat brought Rach. That was when we met.) I have had the privilege of discipling these girls and being their friend for 3 years now. Words can't express how dear they are to me. 

Y'all. Last time Jusitn and I took pictures on the Square it was for our save the dates. Now we've been married for 6 months. Wait, what?!? Who am I?! Happy, that's who. 

This is Sarah and Jason (and Josh pretending he's not in the picture even though he knows he is, and Tim really thinking he's not in the pic). They're sibs. Sarah's my bro's age (and they're friends) and Jason's my age and we have worked together for the past year and half or so. He actually played a part in getting me my current job. I like you Biggs (how do I make that plural?)

Saturday Sweets

So I skipped a week. Already. Oops. Please forgive me. It's been a weirdo week.

Y'all. It was my birthday. If you know me, you know I l.o.v.e. love birthdays. I had a whole thing planned out this year how my birthday was going to be called "CElection Day" because my birthday was on election day! I mean, it's been on an election day before, but I think the presidential election day (let's be honest, the real one) only once (the day I was born - the first George W. I believe). Well, I'd been talking about it forever, since Sarah's birthday actually, but it wasn't until late October our friend Tim gently informed that my bday was not a presidential election day this year. Bumm-er. Seriously. I was so sad. I didn't know what I was going to do (because again, I lovey love birthdays), but I did know Justin was taking me on a surprise date. He does that a lot, so it wasn't super fishy, but y'all I had another surprise party! 3rd one in my life and the second year in a row! Wowie. My friends/fam/hursband are so good to me! Y'all. I was so blessed by it. Check out this video if you haven't yet.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=980898749087

Look how decorated our after-party apartment was!

And, here is my surprise party from last year. Awesome right?!

Pretty mail is another one of my faves this week.

 Technically, this wasn't mail. John brought it back from India for my birthday from Chelsea, but I count it as mail. They're already on the desk....that will hopefully have a top soon, so I can show you!

Mail from Chels and my grandma. I got 2 other mails from Sara and Sarah. They both also involved pink. One was a preshy/weird birthday card, and the other was the cutest little birth announcement I've ever seen.

Another super big fave this week is traveling not in the rain. Y'all. Justin and I drove to Cabot from here in a storm, from Cabot to Hot Spring in a storm, and from Hot Springs to Fayetteville in a storm. We're so thankful to drive in normal weather.

Another fun thing this week is that I got to deliver pies for work. Y'all, who doesn't want to be the bearer of a pie? Who's going to be unhappy about getting a pie? No one, that's who. I lovey love my job y'all. Praise the Lord. I almost took (well, did a second interview) with a degree-related, child-centered job, and every single day I am so thankful I didn't. I'm so glad God is bigger than me.

We had family Thanksgiving today, and that was super. I love Thanksgiving and Christmas food. I love the holidays.

Happy Satur-almost-Sunday! 

Saturday Sweets

Y'all.....all 26 of you.....sorry I'm a blog failure. Not that I think you're spending all your waking moments waiting on me to blog, I just feel like I should be better at it simply because the few dear ones to me that do read it do genuinely care about what's going on in my life. (And, I especially care about those that are dear to me, but not so near. I can't tell them *ahem-Chelsea* to blog more if I don't.) Anyways, I've been thinking a lot about why I blog. It seems sort of vain and prideful doesn't it? I mean I'm generally talking about me and my life and what I do, and really, it's not that exciting. But, while thinking about that, I also thought about my (Lord-willing) future children. Y'all. I would love love love love to be able to read what my parents did before they even knew I'd be their daughter. So maybe so sweet 22 year old girl (or boy, or hopefully girlS and boyS!) will love  at least get a laugh at reading these very sporadic, random ramblings one day.

So, I've decided I will write something at least once a week by posting a few fun/random/favorite things on Saturday. I shall call it Saturday Sweets...because I love alliteration...and sweets (and obviously ellipses). And also that I can also do it on Sunday and it still be alliterated. :)

Here ya go! Volume 1 Issue 1 of Saturday Sweets. (PS, this whole idea is sort of a mishmash idea that I stole from Sara's  instafriday posts and Lauren's (yes, we're on a first name basis) Friday Favorites posts.

1. I just found out Justin is off Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Christmas Eve. Woo-hoo. Y'all, he works at a hospital. That is not common.

2. I got to Skype with Chelsea, and that is always one of my favorites.

3. My birthday is this week! I LOVE love love love love birthdays. Not just mine. Everyone's. I still need to plan something, but I love an excuse for everyone to get together (and on my birthday that means not playing games I hate playing at other parties.)

4. Y'all this video makes me sad, but the last kids on it are SOOOOO funny. They make all the whiney kids before worth it. Let's be real, that's totally what I would've done.

5. This recipe I got off of Pinterest. Y'all. I luuuuurrrrrvvvvveeee Pinterest (like everyone else in the world) and this soup. (They call it chili). It's so easy and so tasty. I'm making it for our Community Group tomorrow.

 6. Halloween's over. Thank goodness. I'm not such a fan of that holiday, but I do love Thanksgiving and Christmas. Did I tell you our tree was up? It is. :)

Happy Saturday, lovies!

Blog fail

Y'all. I am a blog failure. So sorry. We've been pretty busy the last couple weeks. I've what feels like a billion weddings/showers. Who knew fall was wedding season?! Not me. I think after the next wedding we are officially half way through our weddings for the season. Whew. And I have 2 baby showers in the next two weeks...not for me, like, I'm going to them. When did I become so grown up?

Anways, Justin ran a half marathon last weekend with Sara's husband (whom he uh-dores). In Kansas City. He got 91st in his division (age 25-29 I think) and 699th overall (there were like 7,000 people there). He finished in an hour and 49 minutes.

 The guys pre-race...very early in the morning. 

 Soooo many people got up sooooo early in the cold to run. Crazies. 

 There they are, about 2 miles in.

 This sweet boy looked up when I said, "This is for Miss Chelsea." So, Miss Chelsea, this is for you. Sara, I'm obsessed with your kiddos.

I didn't get a picture of the guys crossing the finish line, but this is what it looked like. 

Sara and her mother-in-law are a pro at these, so I was happy to have someone tell me when I needed to be where all weekend and play with some of my faves. 

Subject change: We bought a Christmas tree yesterday!!!! And it's already up. Don't judge me. Don't you dare judge me (that's for you Sarah Allen). Anyways, we live in an apartment. Without an attic. Or much storage at all. So, it was just easier to put it up. It's not decorated or anything, but it's up.

Guess what else? We got a new couch a few weeks ago for $40 on craigslist. Y'all. I love craigslist. I could look at it forever. Plus, we sold a ton of stuff on it, and that's how we paid for a lot of our honeymoon. Anyways, the couch isn't fancy, but she's clean and comfy. I am so thankful for it.

My job's going great (that's what people typically ask me about these days). I love it. Really. It's so fun to just be a little helper all day. My bosses seem super grateful, so that's encouraging too. Most of what I do (since people usually ask that as well) is schedule, call, email, social media (yep, part of my job is facebook and twitter), and a whole bunch of other random stuff. Currently, I'm trying to find Dallas area style blogs. Cool? I think so. Not everything is that fun, but I do get to google/research a lot of stuff and that's neat. And, I'm learning a TON. That's always good...especially for non-school learners like myself.

No one likes to read a novel (well, on a blog that is), so hopefully I'll keep you posted better in the next few weeks. Here's a preshy picture of my husband as a baby to make you smile. Y'all. A sailor. So great.